UC Berkeley 2023 Applicants Thread

NVM…got my answer.

For Berkeley, LORs are by invitation only. They are requested after the application is sent in, and is only for a small percentage of the applicants. The invitation for LOR is generally seen as a good sign that the school wants to know more about you. I suppose that for pessimistic people, it also could be construed as being that you’re a “borderline” candidate.

@ProfessorPlum168 Thank you for the explanation. I would consider a request a positive sign. Unfortunately, my daughter did not get one.

I’ve been very disappointed with UC admissions thus far. My daughter has a 4.2 GPA, 34 ACT score, President of several clubs in/outside of school. She’s taken 9 AP classes. She did a summer internship at Goldman Sachs in NYC. Yet she was rejected (not even waitlisted) at UCSB and UCLA. I don’t have much hope for UCB. Not really sure anymore what UC schools are looking for in a candidate. But we’re trying to stay positive!

Interesting video if you have time and want to know more about LORs
https://youtu.be/5jBzAX0DIek

@StanfordOrBust yes they tweeted another reminder today @CalAdmissions

Yeah if you go on UC Berkeley admissions on twitter they’ve been posting all about it for the past week I believe.

Also… I’m not entirely sure that admissions put as much weight on test scores as we think they do. I’ve known a couple of people from my high school who have gotten into Berkeley and UCLA with an SAT score below the thousands… so they were in the 900’s… I honestly think it all depends and trying to guess really just freaks you out more.

I’ve also heard a lot of rumors that the UC’s actually want to get rid of standardized test scores… but that is another topic.

@mad1419 unless you go to a HS that has a high number of students that has really low socioeconomic status and historically underrepresented at either Berkeley or UCLA, or unless the students were recruited athletes, I would find it very hard to believe that anyone coming into these 2 schools could get in with SAT scores in the 900’s.

Yes, I would consider my HS to have a very high # of students that have a really low socioeconomic status. We had around 6 kids last year attend UCLA… I’m not sure about UCB. We’re a super small town in SoCal.

yes, in that case it would make sense.

anyone know if regents results come out at the same time as rd decisions?

The tweet for Berkeley admissions says applicants will be notified up until 11:59 p.m. PST on 3/28. From past experience, do the notifications go out up until 11:59 p.m. For the students on the East Coast, that makes for a late night (or early morning).

I believe they’re usually all released at 3 pm

I have borderline grades (3.86 UC weighted) but strong SATs and very strong essays. My GPA is obviously not strong enough to be a clear admit, so if I did not receive a LOR request should I basically expect to be denied? Are there admits from previous years who had borderline GPAs and no LOR request?

How much emphasis do they put on capped vs. uncapped UC GPA? Because the difference for me is pretty big (3.93 vs 4.38)

@hopefulcalbear THey generally come a few days (2-3) later.

@batatachal I think they look at both, though only 1 of the 2 is used extensively, idk which one (PROBABLY CAPPED)

@theWriter28 no. its much more complex than that. Depends if the LORs were sent anyways beforehand too. the clear admit status may be applicable to u, as u cant predict what happens to u, but the adcom may have already admitted u. U cant determine if u were on the border by urself.

Dont over analyze situations.

I know this is an old, worn out topic, but after months of reading about the 2 to 4 address thing, this morning, mine went from 2 to 4 for the very first time since I applied. I realize it probably means absolutely nothing, but I can’t help but find some sort of strange thrill at being able to join the 4 address gang, lol.

@Illuminate27 my son’s was at 4 and is back to 2 so I’m now hoping it means nothing (of course when it was 4 I was hoping it meant something!)

@Bridge19 Interesting to see to what extent ppl here are going to see how many times an address is listed on their portals lol.